


Playing House

by myfics



Category: Lost Boys (Movies)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Blood Drinking, F/M, M/M, Multi, Sexual Situations, Vampires trying to be nice, Violence, sam/alan/edgar have no clue what their doing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2019-11-09 09:06:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17998940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myfics/pseuds/myfics
Summary: With Max gone, David's now the Master of Santa Carla.He's got no clue what he's doing.





	1. ONE

"I'm so sorry Lucy, This is my fault." Max said taking off his glasses. "David and my boys misbehaved. I told you, boys need a mother."

Lucy gave him a confused look, stepping closer. "Max what are you talking about."

"I knew it!" Sam said, "Your the head vampire!"

"Now Sam, don't start that again. Lucy's voice became stern, angry that her son would take this ridiculousness to such a level."

Star came out of her corner, "You. Your the secret David was protecting.

Max smiled and nodded.

"Who are you?!" Lucy exclaimed as the girl came out of no where. She was incredibly confused now. Her home destroyed, two insane boys possibly leading her youngest a stray and now random girls.

"But you passed the test!" the boy in the beret asked, holding out a knife. Beside here the brother was scowling, but the fear in his eyes was real.

"You didn't ever invite a vampire into your home you silly boy. It renders you powerless." Max explained.

"Did you know that!" Sam asked.

"Of course, everyone knows that." Edgar lied.

"Has everyone gone crazy here? What the matter with all of you."

"It was you I was after all along Lucy."

"What?"

I knew, that if I could get Sam and Michael into the family, there was no way you could say no."

"Where's Michael?"

 

"It was all going to be so perfect, Lucy" Max looked off to the side, eyes looking at nothing. "Just like one big happy family. Your boys, "Max pointed at Sam with his glasses. "And my boys." He glance back at David, his unbeating heart breaking slightly at the sight of his first childe.

"Great," Edgar began backing away slowing, hand twisted in the back of Lucy's dress to tug her back as well. "The blood sucking Brady bunch."

VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV

David would have laughed if all he energy wasn't being used to keep up the illusion that he wasn't withering in agony on the antlers. Fooling humans was easy. Hell even fooling the half vampires was a piece of cake. But Max, he was the one he had to keep in the dark. 

David didn't want to do this. He wished he could snap some sanity back into Max, make him understand that this weird need to have a facsimile of a normal, human life wouldn't work. That his insane need for control was putting them all at risk. 20 years before he had told them to leave his home, take up residents elsewhere whilst he found them a mother. For 20 years He turned countless women, most ended up staked, others ran as soon as they could

Then he got the idea to add to his brood first, then find a mother. Laddie came to them after car 'accident' killed all but his grandmother, who still searched for him. They had to keep the missing posters hidden from Laddie. They knew if the kid ran, Max might do something awful. Old Max would never have done that to one so young, but this new one? 

Laddie was human for a while but then Max fed him vampire blood and made him a halve. For a year the four boys had fed the halfing from the own wrists, trying to stave off the change till the kid was old enough. Child vampires never lasted long, most went nuts within 20 years. None liked the idea of putting the poor kid out of his misery if it went bad, which it inevitably would have. 

Then Star showed up, and Max had forbidden them to keep feeding Laddie. When Dwayne had tried to Argue, Max had hit him hard enough to snap his neck. It took two days to heal.

They'd also been forbidden from telling Star about holding off the change, in hopes of making her feed. None of the boys had any clue where Star had come from, and she spent her time curled up with Laddie, Glaring at them. Not that any of the boys could blame her. The frustration being unable to stop Max's madness was causing the to act out, take chances they wouldn't normally take. The security guard, the couple in the car? those were choices that could have gotten them noticed.

Then the Emerson's came. Turning Michel and Lucy was something they could handle, but Sam wasn't even fifteen yet. One child vampire would have been bad enough, but Two? They'd have to leave to hide the two un-aging vampires. Not to mention other groups of un-dead would avoid them. Turning kids wasn't the norm, never really had been. Doing so was considered cruel, if not outright suspect at times. 

And Max was trying to turn two. 

It was at that moment David and he boys had to do something. So they planned, and did there best to push Max's plans back a few days, feeding more than normal to gather strength. Then Sam had gone to the Frog brothers, and the boys knew what they needed to do. 

Marko volunteered to be staked, saying he was the obvious choice for the hunters first kill. One of them had to take the hit, and the second hand sensation of stake to the heart would jolt Max enough into thinking he was dead. They just had to move fast enough.

They gorged themselves the night before, Michael seeing their cruelty and ferocity, scaring him shitless. He ran, and then they went their separate ways to hunt down a few humans to hide in the caves in preparation for the attack.

When They felt the intruders, they'd fought the urge to attack, to keep their brother from feeling the pain heading his way.

It was worse than they expected. David gave chase, yelling threats and keeping a metal eye on Marko, who was currently screaming in agony and Dwayne rips out the stake, then slit his wrist to spill his blood into the wound. Paul opened his wrist for Marko to drink from, and David raced down into the bowels of the hotel to grab one of the captive humans, some dealer nabbed from beneath the boardwalk. By the time he had reached Marko, his bleeding had stopped, but the wound hadn't healed much. 

He handed the human to Paul, who looked gaunt.

"Eat. I'll feed Marko." He bit into his wrist and propped Marko up so he could rink easier. After what seemed like for ever, the wound finally began to close up. Paul returned not long after with a strung out chick who was half dead from drugs. Marko didn't have the strength to bite himself, so Paul opened a wound for him, and he drank, his body diverting all its energy to healing. 

Slowly his wounded heart sealed up, the bone of his ribs re-grew and muscle reached toward each other and the girl expired. He finally, finally had enough strength to speak. 

"Ow." he managed to croak, and Paul gave a soft snort of laughter. Dwayne sagged against the wall and sighed heavily, and David squeezed his friend. 

"Okay, okay. Keep your walls up. This point in, radio silence on the mental link." David said, and lifted Marko up bridal style. Marko didn't complain, which spoke of how weak he was. "Grab another, bring them to the ballroom, we'll sleep there till night fall. And Dwayne?"

"What." Go eat on of them. We all need to be at full strength."

He took Marko down to the half collapsed ball room, settling them both onto a couch. 

"I hope this works." Marko said. "If it doesn't we might have to run."

David nodded, knowing they would have to. Max was losing it, pretty soon other vampires would take serious notice. If they were with him when other did...it didn't bound well for them. "Lets hope it does."

Swearing caught there attention as Paul dragged in a beach bum, a heavy set guy that they often saw trying to follow the pretty teen girls down dark alleyways. Marko managed to sit up, but excepted the help David offered. His fangs dropped and he soon the swearing perv was dead, and finally the skin of his chest sealed up. 

Then they waited, pressing close on the too small couch, trying to rest. 

The second the sun set, they left. Marko was to find Grampa Emerson and let him know of the attack.

A tiny part of David had hoped Max would blow off his date and fly to his children, to save Marko and protect them. To go after the wannabe hunters and finally, finally come back to them.

He sent a request to make sure any bodies were dealt with promptly. They'd have a new brother soon. 

He wanted to scream at him, to yell and punch an hit. But he couldn't, they needed head out.

"Widow Johnson's is out near the old Framer place." Dwayne said, "We'll head out now. Do not contact us unless you have to."

"I know" Marko said, stepping out into the night, skin prickling at the last of the sun. 

He flew off on way, and the three went towards the Emerson's.

It hadn't been easy. Paulo scared the shit out of the Frogs, and took a faceful of holy water. Dwayne had made his end look pretty spectacular and disappeared into the night, and waiting, his mind focused on making Max think he was dead. Paul was the Sam, and then Max's car arrived.

They waited, listening and then Marko arrived.

"He's on his way." he said, the sound of an engine not far behind. 

They had expected Grampa Emerson to hop from his truck and run inside. They didn't expect him to drive through the fucking wall.

Then they felt it. Max died screaming and burning. The black smoke that billowed and then a strange, odd sensation fell over them. A loose end that soon solidified and latched onto another. 

David. 

David.

"We need to get to him."

They moved fast, finding David impaled on the antlers and, not knowing how to free him, just took the Antlers and David with them.

VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV

"Son of a _"

"Last one man, last one I swear." Dwayne said and snapped the last antler, finally allowing David to slip free. 

They were at Ma- no, it was David's home now. So long as Max hadn't changed it, the House, the store, they were David's now. The authorities knew Max had 'son's' and that they lived in the town. The lawyers would be in touch, the only humans to know what they really were, and enjoyed the money and protection they got enough to ignore the bloodsucking,

The house had no barrier to them, as any home of David's was the boys as well. Thorn had greeted them at the door, tail wagging and friendlier than he had been in a long time. He led them inside, and Marko had rushed to find scissors to cut through David's clothing whilst Paul went in search of anything the could use to saw through the antlers. Dwayne found a course wired and quickly wrapped the ends so he could use that.

It took nearly an hour to get though the awful work, pulling antlers out. David swore and cried, not caring how it looked because it fucking hurt. Marko gripped his hand, fingers at the back of his neck, his fingers lightly stroking to comfort him. Finally free of the damn things David's slipped to the ground and trembled. 

"Holy fuck." he shivered, "Holy fuck that hurt."

"Do you need to feed?" Paul asked, "Its only 12, we can find someone."

"Its won't one?" Marko asked, looking over at the clock, "It feels like days, not hours."

David knew what he felt. He looked down at his chest, the wound already closing but still aching. Thorn whined, stepping up and starting at the wounds. Not the Wounds, the blood. David knew why.

The hound knew he belonged to David now, but it needed to be made official. He lifted his hand, and slit along his palm, holding it out to the dog. It lapped until the wound closed and the animal's eyes slashed blue like David's.

Suddenly the reality that Max was dead sunk in. 

David felt the ache start in his chest, his maker was gone. His grief welled, as it did for his brothers. They grieved for the man Max had been, not he strange, insane creature he became. 

They didn't go to hunt that night, instead finding bottled blood in the fridge.

"Jesus," Paul exclaimed, "When was the last time Max hunted like a normal vampire? There has too be dozens of bottles in here."

They drank, searching the house. The main rooms were brightly decorated and perfectly human. Down in the basement they found a locked door. The spare key was found thanks to Thorn, and they found a staircase leading to the caves beneath. It was weird being here again. They'd moved out to the cave shortly after Max returned from his travels in the 60's just as his madness began. There rooms were still there, untouched. Dust covered almost everything. 

There were differences though. The roosting room was gone. The bar they used to hang from as a coven was gone, ripped out. The library, that used to hold all of the books Max had on there kind had been boxed up. Books that held valuable knowledge were shut away. 

David opened one, seeing a book in German. Another box held journals, hundreds of them. 

"Man, this place is going to need a clean." Marko said, moving from room to room. He then smiled, "Hey, you think our cloths are still here?"

He disappeared along with Paul, and a few minutes later laughter was heard.

"Jesus Paul, you still own that!"

"Hey, who doesn't love a trilby."

David leaned against toe wall and smiled.

"Hey." Dwayne said, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing. "We need to make phone calls. Its late, but better we do this now rather than later."

"Yeah, we do." David nodded, but didn't move. Instead he lifted his hand and rested it on Dwayne's. "We'll need to lay low. But one of us needs to check on Laddie. The kid is smart, he knows something was going on."

Dwayne nodded. "Yeah. The kid is too smart for his own good."

"Right. You wanna do it. We've got a couple of hours until sunrise."

"I'll head out now. You make the call."

"I will."

The two went to see what the other two were up two and found them in Paul's room, going through a pile of cloths decades old. Paul wore a trilby hat, and a Marko leaned on his shoulder, smiling at the garishly green tie dies shirt Paul had favoured back in 67.

"You two good?" David asked.

"Yeah. You need us for something?" Marko asked. 

"Yeah, I'm gonna make a few calls, I need your help going through the paperwork to make sure there's nothing huge coming up that we might have to deal with."

"Time to play house huh? Lets go." Paul said.

"Yeah." David said. "Time to play house."


	2. TWO

Dwayne travelled fast, landing close to the Emerson house and moving slowley.

There was movement in the house, people still awake, trying to fix what was broken. The worst was the water. Paul had been so pissed off at nearly losing Marko, he'd ripped that bathroom apart whilst the Frogs thought he was melting. 

He also saw movement outside.

Laddie. Sitting with Nanook and crying, looking so sad Dwayne felt his heart lurch. Keeping quiet and listening to the door, he concentrated and whispered.

"Laddie."

The boy looked up sharply, face filthy with dust and tears streaks. He looked around , then grabbed Nanooks collar and led him to the backdoor, before coming back outside.

"The brush Laddie." he whispered again, and Laddie took a quick look behind him before dashing over to the brush, e3yes darting around until Dwayne came into view. 

The relief that flooded over him nearly made the boy fall, but instead he gathered his strength and ran to Dwayne, throwing himself into the dark haired vampires arms.

"Your okay." he whispered, tears coming fresh to his eyes, "I knew it. I knew you couldn't hate me. You wouldn't leave me."

He squezzed him tight, not wanting to late the kid go. He could feel his own tears gathering, and breathed deep, breathed the fully human scent. 

Human. Laddie was human. He'd grow up now, he'd have a real choice. He had a real, human heart beat and his breathing was normal and he wasn't hungry. If Dwayne still believed, he'd be thanking every god there was in thanks. Shit he might sacrifice a goat to Satan or something, just to thank someone.

"I'm so sorry kid. We had to keep you in the dark, it was the only way we'd have a chance."

"And it did." Laddie pulled back and grinned, wiping his eyes, "Max is gone. He can't hurt you again." he put a tiny hand on Dwayne's neck, "Not like he did before."

Dwayne shook his head. "No, he can't."

He pulled him into another hug. Stroked his hair and took a deep breath, taking a moment to just enjoy the pure, Humanness of the child with him. 

Eventually though he knew he had to let go.

"Look Laddie, we need you to keep quiet. The longer people think we're dead, the longer we have to get ourselves set up. We're moving, and need make sure its safe" He stroked Laddie's face, "We will be back kid, I promise. We just have to lay low. You understand that right?"

Laddie didn't look happy, but he nodded, "I know." he looked Dwayne straight in the eye. "You will come back though, right? I know it won't be tomorrow, or maybe for ages, but you will come back?"

"I promise Laddie. You've not seen the last of me." He looked over at the house. "Count to five, then head back in and say you saw something. They'll think your just scared."

Laddie nodded, getting one more hug before Dwayne took off.

Dwayne was right, they did think he was just a scared kid.

VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV

Lionel Havwick was woken by his second emergency phone going off. His client knew not to call his regular line after hours, and would call the emergency line nest to the bed. If it was urgent , he would get up, if it could wait, he'd go back to bed.

The second emergency phone was one the other side of his bedroom, and was there so he'd have no choice but to get out of bed and deal with it. Because that phone was for his families oldest clients.

Maximilian Lawrence was a vampire, and had given his great grandfather the capital to start his business. From then on, different variations of the man's name had popped up in their books and every generation, one of the kids would take over his account. Lionel had been shocked at the discovery of vampires in Santa Carla, hell their existence in general had been terrifying. But he soon learned that having on as a friend was useful. They had no competition because Max and his 'family' kept them out. They were the biggest law firm in the town, and did well. Okay, so they had to allow a little competition, otherwise things would look weird. But with a little help, they stayed on top. Plus his family had total protection from any un-dead that might take interest. 

Not that they would, considering him and his family were not only well off, but would be missed if any of them went missing. 

He got up from bed, answering the phone quickly and managing not to wake his wife and took the cordless phone to the hallway.

"Mr Lawrence?" he asked.

"No. Its David. I need you here now. Max...Max is dead."

Lionel didn't believe it. "You mean he 's had to disappear? Will he require a-"

"Hunters got him"

Lionel felt his heart still. Fuck. Not good. He headed towards his office and the safe, which held detail of what to do if such an event were to happen.

"Okay. Okay, I have the details. Shall I meet you at your...home or will you come here?"

"You come here. I'm at Max's. How quick can you be here?"

"An hour."

"I'll be waiting."

Lionel hung up and sighed. The safe took three passwords to open, and once in there was a lock box. He opened it, and began reading.

VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV

"I can't believe he's letting you bring the fucking birds." Paul griped. "I mean come on, there just pigeons!"

"Hey, I raise and feed them. I doubt they know how to survive alone anymore." Marko snapped. "Besides, there's only twelve of them. They won't be a problem. I'll just stick them in the old roosting room until I find something better for them. Now shut up and let me concentrate."

Marko hadn't driven a van in a while, so it was a little slow going, but it would be worth it. Paul sat in the passenger seat and watched the quiet streets go by. They'd been stopped once by the police wondering what two teens were doing in a van at 1 am, so Paul had put the whammy on them. 

They had helped David find the lawyers contact info, and then got sent to grab whatever they could from the cave. Over 20 years they had collected a lot of shit, and they wanted to keep it. Clothing, trophies from difficult kills and cool stuff they'd found. And of course, Marko's birds. 

The kid had an affinity for animals back when he was human, and it hadn't left him when he turned. In fact it got a little too good with them. Dogs, cats, vermin, he could charm any of them. For years he'd bring home strays, some he'd keep, others he'd find homes for. It annoyed the fuck out of them, but they dealt with it.

And then they moved into the cave, and he found those damn pigeons. 5 of them, living in the cave. After complaining and wheedling, they'd let him keep them, but just them. 20 years and several generations later and they had twelve spoilt creatures. Okay, so they didn't shit on anything important and stayed out the way, but Paul didn't know why they couldn't leave them at the cave. 

But he also knew that Marko was attached to them, months of him moping wasn't something he wanted to deal with. So in the back of the van were dozens of boxes, and two plastic crates with lids for the damn birds.

The reached the bluff and swiftly raced down to the cave, heading off with different directions to grab there things, and stuff from the list David had given the. They left certain things, having better models at Max- their place and grabbed Their music. Pictures and posters from the deep rooms, clothing they didn't want to leave. The searched and haphazardly packed for an hour straight before they felt Dwayne arrive.

"Laddie knows to keep quiet." he said, and grabbed a box from Paul.

"He alright?" Marko asked, not wanting to ask the question on his mind, but hoping for and answer.

"He's human." Dwayne said, and it was like a collective breath was let go of. Marko wasn't as close to the kid as Dwayne was, but he liked him. You can't not get attached after a year. 

"Great man." Paul said, and passed their tall dark friend on his was out the cave, "Get a move on with the stuff, Sun ups at 5:30 today and I want to be way before then."

Dwayne headed down into the depths of the hotel, and wondered why he felt sad to be leaving. It was cold, damp and dangerous. Twice falling rocks had nearly allowed the sun to find them, and vagrants had wandered in from the wet more than once. He remembered one memorable occasion when a guy had tried to dump his half dead girlfriends body down there. He'd been some rich brat whose secret girlfriend had gotten pregnant and would get rid of it, so he'd gotten rid of her. She had been near death, but for some reason they hadn't been able to put her out of her misery. Maybe it was how pitiful her situation was, or the fluttering heart beat in her belly, but after killing the would be murderer, they waited till night and dumped her outside a clinic. What had happened from then he didn't know, but they'd put up the gate and the 'Dangerous' sign and hoped people would head the warning. People did. 

The place was a death trap, but for some reason he's gotten attached. There had been good night. Well fed and cuddled up in the lower rooms, lazy pleasure and quiet moments where they could just relax. Max was their leader, but he had never been as close as the boys had been. 

He grabbed his things, filling two boxes and then heading out to Find Paul lugging down a crate and looking annoyed. "You can drive back." he said, Marko can go in the back with theses things. I am not riding with the birds."

He laughed, "He gets to bring them?"

"I think he pulled the puppy dog look." Paul said. Marko didn't use that look often, and thrush it was devastating when used. "You know none of us can say no to that shit."

Too true. Dwayne had been caught by that look on many occasions. 

He took his boxes to the van, noticing that they didn't have all that much. He stowed his stuff and went down to the caves, and leaned against the wall to watch Marko work his magic. 

He didn't need to use a lure to get the birds close. He reached up, and they would come. He muttered little calming words and gently put them in the crates, their soft cooing trustful as they settled. Once the first six were in, he used a wire to close the lid and handed the crate to Paul.

"Do not drop them." he warned, voice unusually stern.

Dwayne pushed away from the wall and went to the next crate, opening it up for Marko. 

"You think you can care for them at Max's?" he asked.

" I can build a shred on the roof. There's more than one place I cans steal supplies from. Doesn't need to be fancy, just four walls and a roof." he explained and bought a large, nearly all white bird to the crate. He petted her neck gently and place her within, "He has a whole another floor up there with no roof. Probably to make it easier to take off when he needed to." he suddenly looked pensive, "Do you think he flew anymore? Or just drive everywhere?"

"Who knows. The guy had lost it."

Dwayne wished he had a better answer. Marko had known Max longer than him and though they had known for a while they couldn't trust him anymore, it was still hard to believe. 

"Yeah." he turned away abruptly before Dwayne could see any water in his eyes, and he went back to his birds. 

VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV

David had no clue what to do. He got hid of his jacket and gloves, hoping to make a les 'thug' impression on the lawyer. Her even attempted to use the coffee maker, but gave up and hunted out a stove kettle. That he knew how to use.

God, he'd have to learn how to use all this crap. Modern technology was a miracle, but he had no idea what he was meant to do with it. So he boiled the water, found a jar of instant and hoped that would do. He then wondered if Max had milk when the gate buzzed. 

He let the lawyer in, and ordered Thorn to his basket in the kitchen.

Lionel Havwick had changed in the past two decades. His hair was grey, face lined, but not bad for someone nearing 55. 

"Hello Mr Havwick." David said, letting the human in. "Sorry for the late call but its been...its been a difficult night."

"May I ask how it happened?" Lionel asked, and his genuinely a little sad at Max's loss. "Or is it too soon to..."

"Hunter. Max tried to approach the wrong human, not knowing they were related to a hunter." A small lie, but only barely. Grandpa Emerson had been a hunter once. Not anymore, but once, so it counted. "It wasn't pretty. Me and my brothers had to fall in for safety. I take it you have the paper work."

Lionel nodded. "Yes. He hasn't changed the since-" he checked the paperwork and his eyebrows rose, "Wow, 1898. The paperwork has obviously been updated since then, so its still legal. According to this, You are the Beneficiary of most of the businesses and properties under Max's name. Personal items have been split amongst you. Amendments were made for each of your...brothers." he handed over several different folders.

David furrowed his brows. Okay. Okay, urm, do you want coffee? I think I'm gonna need you to explain some-a lot of this stuff."

"Coffee would be great. Black, one sugar if possible." Lionel pointed to the coffee table, "May I set down my things."

"Go ahead. I'll go get that coffee."

But the time he'd tracked down the sugar and bought the drinks back, Lionel had set out five piles on the table, a pen and had settled on the couch. 

David handed over the coffee and sat down next to the human, quite amazed at how calm he was to be so close to a vampire. His predecessors had always been very careful to avoid getting to close. 

Lionel took a sip and pulled a face.

"Sorry, I'm not good at using the kitchen." David said and Lionel shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. I can't work my coffee maker either, the wife has to do it. Okay, we'll start off with his funeral plans and..."

David listened carefully, listening as Max's wishes were explained to him. It made his heart ache. Hed really been careful to make sure they wouldn't have to leave Santa Carla. Davied wished he knew what had happened to his maker. Why he had gone from the caring maker too-

"David, do you need a moment." Lionel asked. 

David looked at him and then noticed his vision was blurry. He wiped at his cheek and it came away pinkish. "Yeah, " he said, grunting to clear his throat, "I'm, Ill be back in a minute yeah?"

"Take your time." Lionel said, and watched as the vampire left the room. He felt bad for the kid. Or the thing that looked like a kid. Then he realised he was feeling sympathy for a killer. but didn't really care. You met a lot of weird people being a lawyer. And a lot of people worse than Vampires.


	3. Chapter THREE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be blood sharing and nudity in this chapter.

David's body had disintegrated , taking the antlers with him. All of the bodies had. All that was left was ash and Max's bones, which the Frog brothers were planning on scattering around the town or burning what was left. 

Though Michael doubted they'd do that tonight, with how shaky they were. Now the adrenalin was wearing off everyone was starting to feel the effects of the battle. 

Lucy was rushing around, carefullly clearing space and wondering if they should find somewhere else to stay the night. She and Grandpa had disappeared for half an hour. and there had been quite a lot of shouting. When the two re-appeared, Grandpa had looked chastised and his mother was trembling as she tried to suppress her anger.

Michael could understand why. He'd invited them to stay, knowing damn well there were monsters. Okay, so he couldn't know that they'd be targeted, but that was no excuse not to try.

And now there would be more. Alan had said so when Michael when they were moving a particularly large piece of rubble together.

"Santa Carla's a perfect feeding ground Michael. Hundreds of run always, druggies and dealers, not to mention the tourists that travel through every year." He'd explained, his voice quiet. "It not just comics that warn us , we've got books as well."

"And they say more will come?" 

"We've just taken out the main players in town." Alan had looked over at his brother then." Edgar thinks I don't know how bad its gonna get. He'd probably send me away if he could, but..." he'd shaken his head then, obviously not meaning to spill as much as he had, "We gotta be on the look out. There's always another blood sucker around. You didn't think just five could be responsible for all those dead did you."

Honestly, after the surf nazis, Michael wasn't so sure. But when you considered all the missing posters...

He really hoped they had time to rebuild before anything came after them.

VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV

Marko sat watching his pigeons, their soft cooing calming his nerves. His fingers kept going back to his chest, the phantom ache of a stake. He'd never felt such pain before.

"Your still with us." 

Marko jolted, then relaxed. It was only David, settling beside Marko on the old, half broken bench.

"I know, its just...it was the scariest thing that's happened since I nearly flew into that damn helicopter."

David snorted, memories of that night still hilarious. "Man, I nearly died laughing." he shook his head, wrapping an arm around his friend, "How much did you drink to not see that thing coming."

"It wasn't drink. Paul found a bunch of edible paper things and convinced me to try them." 

"He babied you for weeks after that."

"Yeah I remember. Annoyed the shit out of me too." Marko pretended he was annoyed, but was smiling. He leaned into the touch. "You gonna treat me like glass now?"

"Maybe." 

They were silent for a few minutes, watching as the birds began settling roosting for the night.

"We sleeping in the rooms tonight?" Marko nodded at the broken bar, "Considering that's gonna need fixing."

"Year. My room though. I don't want you guys out of my sight tonight." David let his hand drift up to friends hair, gently carding through the curls. "I need to feel your okay."

For a second Marko thought he meant sex, but there was a pull, one he hadn't felt since the last time Max had wanted to re enforce their bond. Nearly 50 years since they had last been permitted to share blood. A shudder ran through him at the prospect. Max had always strictly controlled how and when they shared, wanting to keep them from aligning themselves too closely rather than with him. Not that they would have back then. 

At the thought of Max, a new wave of sadness crashed over him. David pulled him in a little closer and they just sat there a moment. 

"Did, did he even seem a little upset?"

"I couldn't tell." he lied. 

Marko sighed and pulled from the embrace. "Think there's time for a bath? Or did he rip those out too?"

"Nah, still there. Might have to fight Paul for first go though, he found bubble bath."

Marko gave a loud laugh. "Better get going then."

The two of them stood and left the roost, leaving the pigeons behind.

"Just make sure you get that damn coop built tomorrow night Marko. I don't want those birds down hear any longer than they need to be."

VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvvV VvvV

Kent Emerson didn't know what to do.

His daughter was pissed, angry that he hadn't warned her. He could understand why. But honestly, he'd thought his family would be safe. Between Kent's past helping the occasional hunter.

But everything had gone to hell, and now he was lying to her again.

Because the vampires weren't all dead.

He'd been drinking Sherry with the Widow Johnson when a knock had distracted her from their conversation, and she had come back looking a little dazed, saying young man needed his help.

Marko had bee on the doorstep.

He seen the kid, or what looked like a kid, before over the years. His little group had once been normal trouble making types, but never drew too much attention, never did enough damage to pull hunters in. At least when Kent had been young. 

Then it had changed, and the four had become a real threat. Still not enough to drag in hunters, but enough that people were beginning to believe that something was very wrong in Santa Carla. 

"You need to go home." the kid had said.

"And Leave -"

"Max is the head vampire."

Kent's heart had nearly given out then. "He...he's the what."

"He's got Michael, you need to get back and deal with it before he gets you daughter to."

"And why should I believe you."

"Because if you don't their turned or dead. And I know you want neither."

He'd made his excuses then, moving quick and watching as the vampire had vanished into the air. He'd broken the speed limit, catching sight of the monster through the windows, gunning it and praying, praying Michael hadn't made his first kill yet.

He'd been in luck. 

The problem now was the four boys. He doubted they'd show themselves, after all, the one called David would have to get himself established. If anything, them being alive would buy Kent and his family a little time. They'd have to deal with any vampires trying to take the masters place, and those who thought they could hunt in their territory without permission.

But that would mean his family would be even more pissed off when they found out his lied. 

Kent had no idea what he should do, he just knew he should do it sooner rather than later.

VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvvV VvvV

Paul had used an entire bottle of bubble bath because he had no impulse control and he fucking loved bubble bath. Just baths in general. Showers were a no go, because though it wasn't painful, it certainly wasn't comfortable. But baths, those were something they could enjoy.

And enjoy he did. Paul could remember his childhood, bathing in luke warm water in a tub, or freezing his balls off in a river. And the past two decades had been icy tide pools and occasionally heavy rain.

He'd luxuriated in the tub until Marko had threaten to set the birds loose in his room, and relinquished the bathroom.

His brothers took all of 30 mintues to bath and head to Ma-David's room.

He entered the room, throwing his towel in the vague direction of a hamper, his shorts hanging low on his hips. It hadn't changed that much since they'd last seen it. He wandered over to a shelf and looked over the nik naks there. An old compass, a bunch of ancient magazines. a photo album that held newspaper clipping going back over a century. His eyes drifted over the pictures that hung on the walls, and he had to smile. David back when he was human, standing near a horse and looking like he belonged on the set of a western. Near that he saw a what had to have been a family picture, only it had been torn in two, so only Marko remained in it. He was standing beside a high-backed chair, prim and proper and looking like an alter boy.

Paul saw his own picture soon next, him in his military uniform. He'd gone through basic, but never got to fight. Max had got to him before he could be shipped out to who knew where. Under that picture was one of Dwayne, and god did he look different. It was a pic from an old news report about...Paul honestly didn't remember. Dwayne's hair was short, and he looked smaller somehow in that too small suit and sadness in his eyes. 

He looked over at the bed and saw the sheets had been changed, and when he flopped down onto the bigger than king-sized he found they smelt of Marko. The guy had wangled the other huge bed for himself years before. 

He breathed in the scent, old, and musty. He growled, the smell not enough to reassure him his friend was close by. That Marko was still amongst them.

Marko was in fact coming through the bedroom door, damp from bathing and scowling. He'd put his jeans and vest back on, but left of the chaps and jacket off. His feet were bare, showing off the dainty bat like appendages. They all had feet like that but Marko had the smallest. 

"Did you have to take so damn long. I wouldn't have minded a soak."

"You can have first dibs tomorrow." Paul said and sat up, waiting till Marko was within reach before snagging his hand and yanking him onto the bed, pulling him into tight hug.

"I can't breath."

"You don't need to."

"Doesn't mean I don't like to!"

Paul didn't loosen his grip, instead breathing deep and reassuring himself Marko was still there, still alive and kicking.

"We gonna have to fight you for him Paul?" Dwayne asked and grinned as he watched the two. "Because that might fuck up David's plans for tonight."

Paul released his grip, "Plans?" he wiggled his eyebrows, "I like the sound of that."

"Oh Pauly boy." Marko said, "Its even better than that."

Paul grinned wide, and then pulled Marko in for a quick kiss. "Best news I've had all day baby bat."

Marko shoved him away. "Don't call me that you jerk." 

"Aw, but you are." 

Dwayne watched the two wrestle, Marko trying to shut the other up. Paul laughed, and Dwayne honeslty couldn't remember the last time they had been happy without Max's shadow over them. Without that dark connection the in back of their minds telling them to behave, to conceal. Be better sons. Be... god be human.

He sighed and went to the bed, stripping as he went, which got Marko's attention enough that Paul could make a grab for his hands. 

"Got ya you...." he turned to see what Marko was looking at and his eyebrows rose, then he turned his attention back to Marko. "Wanna lose a few layers too?"

Marko rolled his eyes, wrenching his hands loose and pulled off his vest. Paul's hand were immediately gliding up his bare stomach, marvelling at the pale, soft skin. A very naked Dwayne joined them, sidling up behind Marko so he could grasp his wrists, keep them stretched above his head. 

"Let go Dwayne."

"I don't think so. What do you think Paul"

"Oh keep hold. He looks good like this." Paul popped the button on Marko's jeans, pushing closer, stomach to stomach and lips milimetres from Marko's. "Your not going anywhere."

This kiss wasn't playful, but was soft. They hadn't touched minds since David told them to go silent. Now they let the link re-establish. slipped easily into each other like a cloud through air. 

David felt it too, felt the link reach to him and connect. He let it guide him to what was now his room, too his friend, his brothers, his...His. 

When he entered the room they stopped, looking to him. Waiting.

"Don't stop on my account." he said, heading over to the chest of drawers, nearly opening it but stopping. He didn't want to see Max's things. So instead he lay his shirt on the top and turned back to friends.

They didn't move, eyes on him. The connection between the four of them flared bright, and David needed a second to process. They wanted him, needed him. The pull had his feet moving without his consent. He should probably put a stop to it, a master should not follow.

Once within reach hands reached out and dragged him in. he let himself be man handled until he was given a playful shoved back against the pillows, Marko straddling his waist as Paul and Dwayne light pinned his arms. 

He smiles up at them, eyebrow quirked. "I take it you're impatient then?"

"50 years David." Dwayne said, "50 freaking years."

"Then let me up so I can taste." David said, "Let go." this time his voice held a pull it hadn't before. Hands released him, bodies backed away but David grabbed Marko and pulled him back, fingers slinging into hair so he could get a good firm grip. Neck bared and stretched and so tantalizingly exposed.

He bit down, blood welling slow in his mouth and Marko shuddered, his entire body shaking as David fed from him. Not a lot, just a few mouthfuls. But it felt like a feast. Marko's blood had warmth, like being enveloped in someone's arms. The spice of wine from distant shores that had wet his lips back when he was alive and an almost sacrilegious taste. The boy had been catholic once upon a time after all. Marko had gone limp against him, so David carefully moved him, so Marko's back settled against his chest. He took hold of his wrist, and held them out to Paul and Dwayne.

"Drink," he commanded and they did. Marko bucked, squirmed as he was fed upon. His veins felt electrified and his heart was force to beat as blood was pulled from his system. 

The two pulled back and Dwayne crawled forward, passing Marko to Paul tilting his head to the side, his hair falling away from his throat and David wasted no time in biting. Dwayne tasted different from Marko. He had the taste of something heavy and alive, heat of the desert and something..somthing that told David he belonged to the California in a way none of them did.

Paul and Marko came to Dwayne when David was done, Marko latching onto the already healing wound whilst Paul took a wrist. 

David sat up, but stayed leaning against the head of the bed. Paul finally turned from Dwayne to him, eyes wild and crawled his way up. He went in for a kiss that David let him take, before offering his neck.

Paul tasted of salt and sea and sun on skin. He was a beach child, a boy he'd never strayed more than a few miles from the sand unless he could help it. Strong and vibrant and an energy so strong David could almost be fooled into believing this was living blood he drank. 

He pulled away and Marko, ever a greedy boy, was at his wrist in a second, Dwayne at his neck. David sat back and enjoyed the view. He'd planned on the reconnect, but maybe sex wasn't completely off the cards. Who said they couldn't have both. The vibe must have spilled over, because the feeding stopped and they turned to him in tandem. 

David lifted his hand and left the claws come out, touching one to the hallow of his throat and draw a line down, blood welling. His boys came to him, but made no move to touch the blood. They waited for permission.

"It's alright. You can drink."

Marko came to him first again, licking his lips and lowering his tongue to the already healing cut, licking along the line until her reached neck. David turned his head and Marko pressed his fangs into the skin. 

The pleasure swept through him and he made eye contact with Dwayne, and he raised his hand and presented his wrist. Dwayne took to and bit, as David raised his other wrist to Paul, who chose the crook of his elbow.

It was then that something snapped into place. Power welled within David as he felt the ties of Max finally leave him and the boys, the residual power that bound them vanishing and new energy tying them to him. For the first time in so very long, he felt that they were one being. One life.

Marko lay on his chest, fingers gently drawing random patterns on his chest, and Dwayne rested on his arm. Paul, ever awkward, squeezed as close as he could, resting his head on his shoulder and all thought of sex suddenly left David, instead he gloried in the connection. The soft, almost electrical like current that travelled under his skin where they touched. 

"I don't remember being this lethargic afterwards." Dwayne said, rolling closer.

David chuckled, suddenly feeling like a cushion under a pile of vampires, but not really minding. "Go with it. The house is locked down and dawn will be here soon. Any trouble and the house alarm will go off."

"I hope not. I feel like I haven't slept in decades." Marko mumbled, nuzzling closer as Dwayne let a hand rest on his back. 

Pressed close in the safety of their home, David was let slumber take him in the knowledge they were as safe as they had been in a long time.


	4. Chapter FOUR

They ended up sleeping in the upper rec room, spread out over the floor under mismatched blankets and quilts. 

Sam stirred from his sleep to the sound of birds outside. Nanook shifted, having curled up on top of his legs and Sam reached down to pet him. He was on the couch, and rolled on his side to survey the room. The Frogs were on the floor next to him, sharing a blanket. Edgar on his back, and Alan on his side. 

His mother was further along in the chair, head tilted to the side and breathing slow and steady. Grampa was near the stairs, stating as the lightest sleeper any one trying to come up or go down would wake him. Mike was on the other side of the red room, with star and Laddie, who was squished between them. He'd washed up, looking far younger than he did before, wearing an old jersey of Sam's instead of his usual cloths.

He sighed, and closed his eyes, hoping to coax sleep to him. It didn't work, and when he opened his eyes again, Edgar was awake as well and staring at the ceiling, breathing heavily.

"Bad dream?" he whispered, and Edgar swallowed, and gave a curt nod. "I get it man, tonight's been..." he couldn't think of a word to describe the events of the night. He couldn't put in to words the shear terror of the fight, of desperately trying to stay alive when monster he believed to be fake a week before were trying to tear them limb from limb. 

"Yeah. It's been a night." Edgar whispered and rubbed his eyes, "What time is it?"

"About 5. The sky is starting to lighten"

"Should be safe to get up." he carefully moved, managing not to wake Alan as he did. "A lot of clean up to get through. Really want to deal with those bones as soon as possible."

"Year, Bones." Sam felt his stomach lurch at the prospect. "Will that be added to the bill?"

Edgar smirked, "Nah. Call it an included service." he tried to sit up, and grimaced, "I think my shoulders screwed up."

"I know the feeling. My back feels like its covered in bruises." Sam was right, he was covered in bruises. Every inch of him was sore from the fight. It felt like he'd been on a hike, every muscle screaming at him to just lie there to avoid aggravating anything. 

But he couldn't laze around. They had a house to clean up, the entire place was completely wrecked. The bathroom pipes had burst, Michael was gonna need a new bed and there was a gaping hole in the wall. Grandpa had said he had enough material to fix the place, but everyone would have to help.

Next to Edgar, Alan stirred and stretched, back arching and he rolled on to his stomach, arm, flopping over Edgar's face. He shoved the arm away, and Alan jerked awake.  
"Si'zit'mornin?" he mumbled as he lifted his head. 

"Yeah, its morning." Sam said, keeping the giggle out of his voice. 

"Urgh." was all Alan said, flopping back down, face pressed against Edgar's arm now. Edgar rolled his eyes and did nothing. 

"Will you need to go home? Let your folk know your alright?"

"Nah. Boardwalks closed for inspections today, happens every month so we have the day clear." Edgar explained. "So long as we're back by tonight it will be fine. We open early tomorrow for deliveries." 

Sam wanted to ask why their parents couldn't handle it, but considering the only time he saw them they were unconscious, he thought it best not to. 

Across the room he heard his grandpa wake up, groaning and then muttering in surprise, "Well what you know, the floor is good for you back."

VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV

Breakfast was sausage and eggs in the only room in the house not ruined, the kitchen. The water worked, which was surprising, but welcome. They all rinsed off in the downstairs bathroom, and Lucy spent an hour panicking over what they would do for showers until her father came downstairs with good news.

"Pipes aren't destroyed. The pressure from the holy water and vamp blood just broke a couple of connections that I can replace pretty easy. Won't take more than a mornings work."

"Oh thank god. That's one good thing then." Lucy said, a small weight lifting. They had the kitchen and the bathroom. She could work with that. 

"So what is on the cards?" Sam asked.

"We raid the cave." Edgar said, and before Lucy could put her foot down Grandpa interjected.

"That's a damn good idea. There's bound to be stuff we ca sell in that there."

"Dad!" Lucy exclaimed.

"They practically destroyed MY house Lucy, might as well see if they have any thing that can pay for it."

"I have things I want to get. Laddie has cloths there and I need mine too." Star explained, finishing her second helping of eggs. She'd been starving when she'd woken, the regular kind. Laddie had stuffed himself and was now almost dozing at the table. 

"I'll go with them. Its daylight, so they'll be fine if I'm with them." Grandpa said, and Lucy wanted to say no, wanted her boys to stay in the house but....

They would need any money they could get. Without Max she didn't know if she still had a job, and the house needed repairs and, though Edgar frog had admitted they probably would charge them due to all the damage, she had a feeling they would need the cash themselves.

"I'm coming to." she said. There were objections, but she put her foot down, "I am going and that is final."

VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV

They went in sets of two, so not to draw attention to themselves. But it wouldn't have mattered considering no authorities had gone near the place in decades. 

Lucy looked around and then turned to Laddie, who made a be line for the bed. That poor child had been living here, God knew how long before Star had shown up. He went up to Michael with an empty box in his arms.

"There another room we'd use when it rained, I have stuff that but its high up."

Michael nodded, "Lead the way kiddo." 

He followed the kid, and through a hidden entry into a hallway that looked intact, and Saw Star following. She wasn't letting the kid out of her sight. She did look confused though.

"I've not been down here." she said. More of the hotel looked intact here, and she followed Laddie as they made their way through.

"We could search this place for weeks and keep finding stuff. " Michael said, stopping to look at a painting, "This stuff must be worth a good amount. Even if its not famous, the age alone will have some fuddy duddy drooling."

"Fuddy duddy?" Star asked, smiling at him, "Really?"

"Shut up." Michael smiled, and they kept following Laddie into another room. This one was scattered with toys, board games and a real bed.

"This place is a lot nicer than out there. Why wouldn't they put you in here." Michael asked.

"Dunno." Laddie said, and grabbed a pile of comics. His favourites were near the bed, but he'd give the other ones to the weird brothers. They might get something for them, they were old. Once boxed, he went to get his clothes. There were a mismatch of things left at the hotel, stolen from washing lines and bought off the Boardwalk.

"Wow, this place if huge." Alan said as he entered the room, eyes wide, "How many more rooms are there?"

"Michael shrugged, "No clue. This place could go for miles." 

He went over to a pile of games that seemed to be made up of several generations of Monopoly whilst Star perused the blankets and sheets on the bed. She recognised one, pulling out what had to be the tapestry Marko had used on his jacket. She dropped it, turning way and head towards a second doorway. This led to a cupboard that was filled with bloodied clothing. She shut it again, heading over to help Laddie pack.

He'd just given Alan a pile of vintage comics, and teen was asking if he was absolutely sure he wanted to hand them over, eyes wide and bugging.

She smiled, "I take it there valuable?" she asked, tilting her head so she could see the pile. 

"These are original print Action comics, these things are ridiculously valuable." Alan touched the cover of one gently. "Seriously, if your giving me these, then I'm gonna have to insist we share the -"

"There not mine. They were Marko's." Laddie lifted the ones in the box, "I'm keeping these though."

Alan still looked a little worried, but excepted, racing off to show Edgar. Those comics could pay the shops mortgage for a years if they found the right collector. Hell the whole hotel was stuffed with antiques, collectables and interesting items. When Alan hit the main cave again, Lucy was perusing a box filled with antique pictures from the walls of the hotel. Famous visitors, guests and workers. Staff throughout the years and the views around the hotel. She could think of several stores that would be interested in these. 

The rest of the morning was spent gathering their finds and carefully taking them to the care, and by lunch they were heading back to the house. The whole way the Frogs kept asking Laddie if he was sure he wanted to hand over the comics, which annoyed the kid to the point of him saying, "Either take them Or I'll burn them." which shut them up.

Once home it was lunch, then the Herculean effort of the clean up process. 

VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV

 

"Okay, On three we lift." Michael said, gripping the edge of the wood. "One, two -"

"Three!" they said as a group lifting as hard as they could and shifting the beam out of the way. Once out the way the remainder of the wall fell down, leaving the extent of the damage viewable. The entire front wall was gone, and the weird little plant nook was demolished.

"I think I've broken my back." Sam complained, trying to stretch out the knots that were forming from all the heavy lifting. He was sweating through his t-shirt, but was to insecure to take it off. Next to Michael he was scrawny. 

The Frogs had no such qualms, and were shirtless and sweaty. It was distracting to be honest. But Sam put it aside as jealousy. 

"Okay, we move this peace of the side and then we concentrate on clearing the deck."

"Thank god, I don't think I can lift much more." Alan said, leaning on his thighs. "How much do these things weigh?"

"No clue. But lets get it over with."

They hunkered over the wood, lifting it once more and letting it drop next to the path, as Lucy, Laddie and Star came into view through the whole as they swept as much debris out the house as possible. Once on deck the moved it off to the left hand side, avoiding the three bags that held what was left of Max that was sitting in full view of the blazing sun. 

Edgar and Alan would be taking a bag with them to the board walk, and would dump it into the water at separate points when night fell. Grandpa would take a bag to the nearest river and dump that there, whilst Michael would be taking the other bag to the dump. All the bones had been smashed to smithereens before breakfast that morning, careful to evenly spread them out amongst the bags to make sure they could spontaneously repair or reform. Burning had been taken of the table when they realised they could never make a fire hot enough to deal with bone.

"I think that enough for today." Lucy called out. "I want to cover the hole before night fall, and I'm taking some of the pictures into town to see if I can sell them." She turned to the Frog brothers. "I can give you two a lift, put the bikes in the back."

"Thanks Mrs Emerson." Edgar said, grabbing his shirt from the fence post. He meant it, the idea of riding home was a daunting one. His muscles screamed at him to stop, and Alan looked ready to fall over. Plus riding would mean putting their haul at risk.

The comics were a find. Silver age original prints, mint condition. Once verified, they would have collectors flocking. Alan had bee right, they would pay for the mortgage for a whole year. The other stuff they'd nabbed would need to be sold through their dad's connections. watches and bracelets and stuff they couldn't risk getting pinged by the police. So they'd make a few calls and probably get less than the stuff was worth, but enough to cover their immediate bills. 

Gathering their things, they made arrangement stop drop by the next time they had a day free, and bundled their things into the van. 

Mrs Emerson drove in silence for a while, but once they hit a real road, she said, "Thank you."

"Erm..." Edgar wasn't sure what to say. 

"You saved my son. Both of them." she kept her eyes on the road, "I'm not happy about the house, but considering the circumstance , it could have been a lot worse."

"In our defence, Your dad destroyed the wall." Alan said, and it startled a laugh out of Lucy.

"That, That is true." she took a turned onto the road into Santa Carla main. "But I mean it, thank you. But please, try to be careful. You barely 15."

"16." Edgar said. "I'm 16, he's 15." he point ed to the back seat and his brother. It seemed like a dumb thing to say, but it was all that came to mind.

"Well either way, try to stay safe." she slowed the car for a red light, turning to them, "You welcome at our home any time if you need it." More than welcome. The boys needed someone to look out for them. So far their parents hadn't even called, and their children hadn't been home in nearly a whole day. From what she had seen of the boys, they ran the comic shop, no parents in sight. Or at least Lucy had yet to see them. "Just give me a call."

There was awkward silence then, until they reached the boardwalk. 

"So you actual live here?"

"No, but we have key access. We'll say we need something from the store and dump this not the way out." Edgar said and the two of them waved as she drove off towards the main shopping street. 

"She should get a good price for those pictures. You told her to go to Memory Palace right?" Edgar asked, carrying the comics whilst Alan guided there bikes. 

"Yeah. Mrs Eleanor should do right by her. I said to mention us."

Edgar nodded, and watched as his brother stopped near the edge of the pier, pretending to tie his shoe as he secretly dumped a third of the bag of bone into the water.

When he stood up they kept walking, nodding at a maintenance guy and heading to the store. They went through the back, hiding the comics with their other valuable stuff so their parents wouldn't accidentally sell them for the wrong price. Then they went down into the old store room dumped another third of the bag out a hole in the boards. Once everything was put away they left, and Edgar dumped the last of the bones into the 'eco' bin. People could dump food waste into it and feed the 'wildlife' under the pier. It probably only fed rats, but it was one of those weird vanity/environmental protects that popped up every summer. 

Now it was vampire disposal.

As they left the board walk they rode the rest of the way home. A mile down the road was The Frog home. The place was old, nearly as old as the town, built solid and hidden behind a high fence. It had been inherited from their Grandmother.

They stored there bikes away after making sure the gate was shut, passing there mothers overgrown herb garden and entered the house. 

"Mom, Dad, We're back!" Alan yelled, and got no answer. The he noticed the car keys were gone. This either meant they were out on errands (unlikely) or out scoring (Likely).

"I'll hide this, you call Marv, tell him we got s a few thing." Edgar said and took the bag upstairs. "Three or four items should be alright. We can hide that much easy."

"Sure. Watches or jewellery?"

"The watches, this time of year the sell the best."

He went upstairs, and Alan would have made the phone call, if the phone was working. 

"God damn it." He muttered. He went to the kitchen and checked the bread bin, used for the bill money. Instead of the phone bill money was a note saying 'Sorry, will replace' 

We meant the bill hadn't been paid, which meant they'd have to use the emergency fund. The emergency fund was, like most of their cash, hidden away so the bills could always be paid. So they would need to dip into that, and Alan or Edgar would have to escort one of there parents to the bank to pay the damn bill. They hated having to do that, and the looks they'd get. 

But they could deal with it. They always did.

VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV

Lucy was surprised at how much the price of the items went up when she mentioned knowing the Frog boys. Apparently the store owner knew the family. 

"Good kids, little odd, but good kids." Eleanor had said, and offered Lucy $300 for the five pictures. Originally it had been 200. "You have other pictures."

"Yes, but I'm keeping hold of them. The wall collapsing was a surprise and rebuilding is going to be expensive so we have to watch where every penny goes. So we'll sell as and when we need to."

"Termites, those things are gonna eat the country alive. I can get you the name of a good-"

"Oh we already have an exterminator in mind." Lucy said, taking the money nad put it away. "e're hoping to have the place back to normal in a few months."

"Well the weather is fine, so long as no storms come through you'll be okay." Eleanor said. She gave a wide smile, "You have a good day Mrs Emerson."

"I will." Lucy left quickly, money secure in her purse. $300 would see to the groceries for the rest of the month, and maybe get a new mattress for Michael. But she knew one thing they would definitely need, and that was spare toothbrushes for Laddie and Star.

Those two were going to be a puzzle. Laddie said his family was dead, a car crash, and Star just would talk about her family. Lucy hadn't pushed, but she also knew things were going to get tricky if the authorities got involved. But they would deal with that when it happened, for now Lucy just wanted to concentrate on getting her home fixed up and her life back on track.

And make it home before the sun set, which would be soon. She didn't want to be out after Dark.


	5. Chapter Five

David woke feeling warm, sated and very squished. Marko was past out of top of him, and Dwayne had swung and arm and leg over them both, whilst Paul had snuggled up to his side, clinging to his arm like a life line. 

He wiggled a little, trying to dislodge one of them, but it didn't work.

"Marko." he said gently, trying to wake his human shaped blanket, "Marko I need you to get up."

"Nuh." Marko managed to mumble, stirring from slumber and giving David a half asleep scowl. It was probably supposed to be menacing, but it simply reminded David and a cat woken from its nap.

"I kind of need to get up. We've got a lot to do tonight."

"But comfy."

"Just move"

Marko gave a full body stretch above him, slim form pressing against him before sliding off. A mild chill showed its self when they parted, the little warmth generated by their pressed together bodies dissipating. Paul grumbled as David sat up, trying to keep a hold of his arm. He pet Paul's hand, entwining their fingers.

"Evening Sleepy head."

"That was the best days rest I've had in years." Paul said, a little rough with sleep. 

Besides them Marko was running a hand through Dwayne's hair, stopping to give it a playful tug that got him a slap to the thigh.

Now able to get up, David stretched properly and shuffled out from the pile, finding his cloths and upon consideration, decided on a change. 

"Anyone see a laundry room?"

"Next to the kitchen." Dwayne said. "You planning on being domestic.

"I'm planning on getting my things washed in something other than a bucket."

He threw the clothes at a hamper, and went to the ensuite where he found a fluffy navy robe. He slipped into it, heading back into the bedroom to see that Paul had flopped himself over Dwayne and was refusing to move, and Dwayne wasn't in a hurry to him. He huffed a laugh before heading to his now old room. 

The wardrobe still held his cloths, and he grabbed an old grey sweater and then grabbed a pair of worn, ancient jeans from the dresser. He'd not worn either since the 50's, the comfortable fabric almost weird feeling when he slipped it on. He left his feet bare, and head up to the main house. 

Thorn was waiting, and unsure about the animals feeding schedule, decided to play it safe and fill his bowls. Then he headed to the study to check his messages. 

The answer machine showed 4 new messages, so he pressed play and waited.

Message One the automated voice said. "Hello Max? Its Maria, just letting you know the new shipment of Horror vids came in and are ready to go out on display, I just needed to know which were going on the specials rack and which were in general rental. Thanks, bye!"

Message 2 "David, It's Havwick. Max's Death certificate has gone through, and the accounts are now all in your name officialy. I'll be sending the paperwork via couria tonight. Read through and then we can get it all signed over. Call me when you get them."

Message 3 "Hello Mr Lawrence, We'll be sending the contractor over on Tuesday to see about carpet in your step son's rooms and fitting the shadowed glass, is 8 pm late enough or will your need some one to come later than that."

Message 4 "Congratulations! You have been enter into an exclusive prize draw and-"

David turned it off and looked towards the stairs. Slowly, he took off, avoiding the railing before landing and heading along the corridor. The room he found first were a guest bathroom and guest room. The second made him feel ill. 

It was a teens room. Maybe meant for someone of maybe 15 or 16. There was a book case with a bag on it, and when he looked inside found a few dozen newly bought comic books. David backed out and headed to the next room. This one was more plain, but there was a set of brand new weights in the corner, and foldable bench press set.

These rooms were obviously meant for Michael and Sam. David shut the door and went to the next one. Lavender and soft colours, a canopy bed and walk in wardrobe. Obviously meant for Star.

The next room made him freeze. He stood in the doorway of what was meant to have been Laddie's room. 

Toys and games and books for children. Bright colours and inoffensive walls. Max had planned this room for a vampire. He'd planned it for a kid, for-

"Fuck." Dwayne said, standing behind David with a shocked look on his face.

"He really was going to turn him young." David murmured, not speaking to anyone but himself. "My god, he really wasn't himself anymore."

"I'll, I'll get rid of this stuff. Pack it up and dump it somewhere."

"Yeah. Do that. I want this shit gone. I got go deal with more paperwork." David turned and walked past Dwayne, then stopped and turned back to him. "Since when do you wear Sweat Pants."

VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV

Q-Mart was a 24/7 mega store that was situated a mile out of Santa Carl and had everything. From groceries to clothing to boats, you could buy pretty much anything. Including pre fabricated shreds.

Which was what Marko was looking at. David had grabbed a grand out of the safe, telling Marko to grab whatever he needed and stock up on the 'essentials' as well. AKA Booze and alike. But Marko was stuck on sheds, trying to figure out which one he should get. Same price, same size, same material. The only difference was style. One looked like a big Wendy house, the other just a square of wood. Both bad, he could always decorate them. Or not.

"Come on man. We've been here an hour and done nothing but look." Paul complained. "We still have a tonne of other stuff to get. Just buy the pretty one and lets go."

Marko rolled his eyes. "Fine." he reached out and grabbed an Item sticker for the cashier and turned to Paul, "Okay, lead the way."

Paul did, but groaned aloud when Marko suddenly told him to stop."

"We shelving, hang on.

"Just grab whatever's closest. I wanna get out of here. I hate having to be all normal." He did, and they had to be. Lying low meant drawing no attention to themselves. They had the van to carry everything, and they'd ditched the biker look for the night. 

Paul had found a black turtle neck and slacks, which were too boring for his taste and slightly too big, making him wonder if they were stolen from Dwayne at some point. Honestly he took stuff from Dwayne so often they probably were his.

Marko looked a lot better. He'd grabbed a white shirt and a pair of levis so tight they looked painted on. He was happy to look at that for the first fifteen minutes of waiting in that store, but upon realising he couldn't grab it in public he had quickly got bored. 

"Well we won't be much longer now." Marko said as he returned with several shelf kits. "Now where we going now."

Paul led them to the back of the store where they found dog food, which they grabbed a few bags of. Marko grabbed a bunch of dog toys too.

"Your gonna spoil that dog Marko."

"So? Grab a couple of bags of seed too. I didn't bring any extra from the hotel."

They then headed for the snack isle, which led to an argument about if cereal was a snack or a not. This ended in them getting three boxes of lucky charms, then an argument over whether it needed milk or not. This lasted until the personal products aisle and Paul grabbed at least a dozen tubes of KY and ignored the funny look he got from some grandma who had a trolley full of cat food and meals for one.

"So, what you gonna do to pass the time?"

"Dunno. Maybe read. Watch movies. Not like we'll run out. Looks like Max kept one of every film that came through his store. So that'll keep me busy."

"Anything else planned?"

Marko looked over at Paul, who pretended to be looking at a bottle of Shampoo, but the vibe he sent off was playful and full of promise. 

"Maybe I'll see if Dwayne's doing anything." Marko teased, and Paul lost his smile and pouted at him. 

He stopped a little closer so their arms brushed as they walked. "Don't sulk Paul. You know your gonna be entertaining me."

This cheered Paul up considerable. "So, we picking up Milk or-"

"For the last damn time, If you ad milk, cereal is no longer a snack, its breakfast!"

"Oh you are so wrong Marko ..."

VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV

The books were packed away, but he kept the cloths, hiding them under the bed. Keeping Laddie in decent clothes had been tricky, and getting rid of them was just dumb when they could be useful.

The toys were nice, but meant for a kid of maybe 5 or 6. Max had had a very specific family in mind when he made this room. And Dwayne was discovering that as he packed them all away. He wondered where he should dump them., thinking maybe goodwill, but knew that the manager would probably steal half of it. But there was a refuge on the other side of town that could have them. Dwayne had been by a few times, feeding on the jackasses who were getting a little too close to finding their ex wives or kids. 

Once boxed up he piled up the boxes, and heard a squeak behind him. 

Turning he saw Thorn freeze in the doorway, teddy in his mouth and giving a hand in the cookie jar look.

Thorn was a cuddly dog. He was a guard animal, a hell hound and a-

A hell hound. And Hell hounds take on the personality their owner. And having fun was something David all wanted to do. So why wouldn't his dog?

"Thorn, give me the bear."

The dog lift a paw, and tightened his jaw around the blue furred toy.

Dwayne took a step forward, and Thorn took a step back. The dog lowered himself down, tail waging ever so slightly.

"Really? Yesterday you were ready to rip people apart and now you wanna play."

A soft 'ruf' was his answer and when Dwayne took his next step forward, Thorn took off. Dwayne gave chase, catching site of a white tail heading down the stairs as he caught up. He jumped the railing and landed easy, before chasing the dog around the couch. 

"Having fun?" David was standing in the kitchen, watching with amused confusion.

"I think our fun loving , carefree lifestyle might have given Thorn a personality change." 

David smiled and leaned against the wall and watched as Dwayne tried to get the toy back. He could if he wanted, speed and strength would have had that toy in his hand. But he was playing, letting Thorn wear himself out. At some point one of them would have to take him for a walk, but for now he was just happy to watch the animal play. 

The teddy itself would give an alarmed squeak every few minutes, which only excited the dog more. 

Eventually Thorn grew tired of play, and took the toy to his bed thoroughly destroy it.

"So, now your done trying to get your teddy bear back, you got plans for the rest of the night." David asked, coming into the living room and sitting down in a high backed chair.

"No clue yet. You dealt with that paperwork."

"Half of it." David rubbed his face, "I'd forgotten how tedious being alive was. I'm gonna have to show my face at the video store at some point and let them know I own it."

"Shit." Dwayne said, "That's going to screw up our plans to stay hidden."

David nodded. "We're gonna need to come up with a plan of some kind."

"Maybe we should just kill them." Dwayne suggested. "House fire or something."

"Won't work. The Frogs will get suspicious. And even if we take them out as well, they all technically locals. Hunters will be bound to show up if too whole families end up dead. The only reason we get ignored is because we go after the bad tourists and the dick wads in this town. We start eating the locals or the 'upstanding citizens' and we're asking for a target to be drawn on our heads."

This was all true and a problem. They had to think fast if they wanted to come up with a plan before the wake. Dwayne had another thought occur to him that David wasn't going to be happy about.

"You'll probably have to start looking like you own a business now."

David froze, realisation hitting him. He ran a hand through his hair, his carefully crafted mullet and groaned. "Fuck." He could easily dress to his usual taste and still look presentable, but the hair? That would have to go.

They both were pulled from this fashion disaster by the sound of a van, and their friends returning. 

"We have returned with Libations!" Paul called, coming through the door with far too many grocery bags for one person to balance in his arms. 

"Need some help?" Dwayne asked and Paul gave him an offended look.

"No. Either I carry them all in one trip or I fail as a man." Paul said, puffing out his chest and then struggling to the kitchen. Behind him Marko was easily carrying the shed kit thought the door. 

"Any trouble?" David asked.

"Nah. In and out with no trouble." he rested the shed against the wall. "Gonna need some help putting this thing up. Its in 25 pieces."

"Why 25 pieces?"

"Probably so it would fit in a single box. I gotta go get the shelf's now."

Dwayne shook his head as Marko disapp4eared outside. "That guy and his birds."

"Hey, at least we don't have to keep them in the hanging room now."

Dwayne rolled his eyes, "Seriously? Your going back to calling it that."

David gave a grin, and then turned to watch as Marko carried another five packages in.

"Little help?"

VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV

The packs were up on the roof, and Marko was already setting everything out so he could get the shed up quickly, whilst Paul studied the instructions.

"Okay, I'm gonna go get the toolkit." Marko said as he stood up staright.

"You don't need a tool kit, everything's already here. It uses those Alice keys." Paul said, pointing to the instructions. See.

"First, it Alan keys." Marko took the instruction, "And second, I need the tool it for the spirit level. Now don't touch anything while I'm gone."

"Okay okay. No touchy." Paul put his hands up and watched Marko head back in, and turned to looked at the Shed's pieces. "Can't be that hard to set up."

VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV VvvV

The toy was officially dead, the squeak having been chewed to death and the rest scattered about the kitchen. Thorn now sat on the door step and settled in to nap whilst David was staring off into the distance. 

"You okay?"

He turned to see Marko holding a spirit level, standing and watching him. 

"Yeah. Just needed some quiet. Have to make some hard decisions soon."

Marko gave a sneaky little smile and said. "Year, must be hard trying to figure out if you should just go for a trim or lop the whole lot off."

"Oh screw you Marko. Next time you wake up you are going to be lying on what's left of your hair."

Marko sniggered at him, setting the spirit level on the counter and coming to join David on the porch. "Nah, you like it too much." he sidled up next to him, and David could feel a teasing sensation through the mental connection. 

"Oh really, and why's that?" asked, and wrapped his arm around Marko's waist.

"Well what would you pull on?"

David shook his head, "Your incorrigible Marko."

"And you love it." Marko leaned in, enjoying the feel of David's hand as it skimmed over his backside, sliding into his back pocket. "You can show me how much later."

"Later."

"I've still got to build that shed."

"I'll help." David said, and guided Marko inside and grabbed the spirit level as they past it." He then stopped for a second, "Did you say that on purpose to get me to help?"  
"I left Paul up there, so you'll mostly be running interference."

"Well we better be getting up there before he builds a boat."

They headed up, passing Dwayne as he carried the boxes down to the stairs and got to the roof just in time to see Paul finish putting the roof on the Wendy House Shed.

Marko stared in disbelief. "Wha...How.., I was only gone 15 minutes!" 

"Yeah, it didn't take long. Alice keys made it real easy to build."

"Alice Keys?" David asked, confused,

"Alan keys." Marko verified, but David still looked confused.

"These things." Paul said and chucked one to David, whose brows scrunched. 

"Still don't know what these are."

Marko went up to the shed and gave it a little shove to test for sturdiness. It didn't move. Everything was in place. Even the door had been hung right. 

"Since when are you good at building stuff." He asked Paul, who was grabbing the shelving kits.

"Didn't seem hard."

"Seriously guys, what the fuck is and Alan Key?"


End file.
